The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1887-01-27
The Art of Nutrition

The Chicago Inter Ocean les. -
IDLY discusses the food topic a. |
follows:
The question is oftener asked
than answered why, in . vs.st. fer
tile country like this, tho re il 90
much expense attached TO the cost
of living and so mrcu apparent
need in the matter of food. From
erroneous views Of the facts many
persons deduct the conclusion that
oppression Of the poor by the rich,
the extension of certain forms of
monopoly, and the withholding of
rights from labor explain the seem
ing Inconsistency between the in
creased productiveness of the coun-
try and the limited prosperity of
the individual. How much justifi
cation there is for these complaints
Mr.. Edward Atkinson, in the Cen
tury, clearly and deliberately ex
plains by pointing out how greatly
the condition OF tie purchasing
classes has improved in twenty
years.
Discussing the food question in
this country, he contends that the
cost of living has by various means
been so reduced and the supply Of
food so largely Increased that only
q lack OF thrifty economy may &C
count for the restitution of any la
boring class. The changes in the
TODD supply during twenty years
are sufficiently illustrated in the
grain produce and the decrease IN
: The cost of transportation, In 1865
the average production of grain to
each inf abitant In the United
; States was 323 bushels; in 1885 i,
, was 52t bushels, an increase o.
, more than 60 per cent. In 1867
the average cost of moving ton o
Iproduce from Chicago to the sea
II hoard was 3 4S 100 cents per mile
: in 1885 it was sixty-eight hun
{ dredths of q cent. The increased
o railroad facilities and the restora
ton OF money to a gold basis en-
abled the farmer in 1885, notwith
: standing the reduction in price, t
IS make handsome profit on produc
y that he could not have got to mar
' ket in 1865 without . loss. TIL
cost of moving a barrel of fou
1000 miles in 1855 was $345; i
- 1885 it was So cents. If wheat ha
70 been subject to the same cost {
~ moving in 1885 that it was in lS6
- to transport thousand miles, SO
- 100000 barrels Of -four, the estims
ted amount consumed in this cour
try annually would have cost $l72,
is 100000, or $148, 5000 more tina
,e it cost last year. This saving hs
# extended to all departments of foo
or produced as well as to bread, th
l. least important factor, 80 that th
average standard daily ration of az
tual workers, mechanics, artisan
N factory operatives, or laborers, repr,
i sents an expense Of 25c., includin
lie meat, milk, eggs, bread, vegetable
ST sugar, tea and coffee, fruit, salt, ct
er A very careful computation pu
nt the probable price Of food an
drink consumed in the Unite
= States for one year at 100000
u 900. But in various institutions, 6
in for example certain well conducte
I'd asylums and reformatories in Obi
ne the cost of living per diem, inclu'
st ing all the articles above named,
reduced to 1920 cents q persol
Now as matter of fact there al
Id 100000 square miles of arab
II land in use in this country, abol
-, half the total area, producing
er the supply of this country AID 70
ne eign demand q quantity of foe
,h that might he reduced one-half an
c. perform the same sustaining off,
we're there no waste. Yet in spi
h of this vast production, which is a
n enormous increase per capita ov'
ks the yield of 1865, and in spite of tt
h. great improvement in the mechal
I'd ism of distribution, great number
Mt of people IN this country have gre.
70 difficulty to obtain their dali
n bread, and here, as in parts of tt
of old country, want exists in tt
midst Of plenty.
The cause of this, Mr.. Atkinso
i'll argues, is not political; it is dome
ed tic, individual. 1t Is because v
m waste enough in ignorant buyin
ne and in bad cooking to sustain ar
IN other nation as numerous, and be
~ cause no common attention hi
'e been given to what may be Gale
ne the art of nutrition.
Is When subsistence becomes mo-
lg Of a science than it now is cond
ut lions equal to those at present col
ne demned will be accounted prospe.
w Gus; and this will be the resu
to when a family learns what food
buy, as the most directly suitab
to It's needs, and how to cook |
e 1t is pretty fairly determined ths
y, the waste of an ordinary family
= equal to its support in the matt
Ae Of expense, a statement that is il
: creditable to the majority, bi
= which finds something like proof
- the experience of Prussian farm /
= borers with whom the cost Of mail
s. ) tanning family averages five an
= three-quarter cents a person dali.
r The food question is yet in its il
!; fancy, but it Ia growing toward
substantial demonstration.
| FARM AND HOUSEHOLD,